Watchful Eyes Keep Neighborhood Secure

August 12, 1987|By Terry Wilson.

There was a time when speeders enjoyed the challenges posed by the winding streets of the Schaumburg subdivision Timbercrest, when teens from other neighborhoods chose Timbercrest`s park to drink beer.

``She understands that it takes people getting involved to make the difference,`` said Schaumburg police officer Joseph Sortino. ``It takes the public, not just the police, to get involved.``

Largely because of Gargan`s persistence, Sortino said, more than 300 of Timbercrest`s 488 homeowners belong to the Neighborhood Watch, an effort by Gargan that was rewarded Tuesday night with a citizenship award.

Nevertheless, getting those homeowners to participate in the Neighborhood Watch wasn`t easy. ``It was really hard,`` Gargan said. ``You could see they were interested, but they just didn`t want to make that extra effort.``

Rather than accept defeat, Gargan, an 8-year resident of Timbercrest, enlisted the help of 28 block captains from the local homeowners` association to talk to their neighbors about the program.

She announced watch meetings in the association`s newsletter, she called neighbors and she went door to door in search of support. Gargan became interested, she said, because the watch program helps people become involved in their community.

The nationwide program teaches residents how to look out for one another, how to report suspicious things and how to make their homes less subject to burglary, she said.

Training neighbors to keep an eye out for unusual happenings in the neighborhood may have saved the life of a deliveryman who got locked in the back of his truck on a freezing day last winter, said Gargan`s husband, Greg, 43.

``He said he was pounding on the doors and yelling, and no one could hear him,`` her husband said. ``Because of the Neighborhood Watch, someone noticed his truck had been there too long and went to find out why.``

Gargan`s efforts were rewarded Tuesday with the Illinois Crime Prevention Association`s first citizen`s award--a plaque--and a $500 check at a Schaumburg Village Board meeting. (The first officer`s award and check in the program, sponsored by API Alarm Systems of Franklin Park, was given to Evanston police officer Demitrous Cook on Monday.)

The award coincided with the 4th annual Night Out, in which people in 6,000 communities nationwide were expected to sit on their porches or visit with neighbors outside from 8 to 9 p.m. to demonstrate participation in the program. Gargan said she would rush home to take part.

Gargan does not talk about her accomplishments easily and seems unimpressed byn the number of people she has involved. ``I really thought we`d have more,`` she said. ``I always shoot for the moon.``

Neighbors say the program has been effective, particularly in getting police to respond. When members call to report a crime--whether it`s speeding motorists or teenagers drinking in the park--police know the call is reliable. Sue Simmerer, 46, who lives in Timbercrest and belongs to the watch, said, ``I don`t know if crime is up or down in Timbercrest, but I feel more comfortable with it.

``The whole community gets involved in watching to make this a better place to live.``